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Tuesday, December 5, 2006

Resolution: SF Health Commission "Endorsing the Goal of Universal Hepatitis B Screening and Vaccination for API residents"

HEALTH COMMISSION

City and County of San Francisco

Resolution No. 16-06


Endorsing the goal of universal Hepatitis B screening and vaccination for

Asian and Pacific Islander residents of San Francisco


WHEREAS, residents of Asian and Pacific Islander heritage comprise 34 percent of the population of the City and County of San Francisco; and


WHEREAS, Asian and Pacific Islanders are facing a health care crisis from Hepatitis B infections and liver cancer as follows:

a.) One out of 10 APIs in San Francisco has Chronic Hepatitis B

b.) 80% of liver cancer is caused by Hepatitis B

c.) 1 in 4 APIs living with Chronic Hepatitis B will die from liver disease or liver cancer

d.) Due to lack of symptoms, awareness and testing, most APIs are unaware of their infections

e.) APIs are 100 times more likely to have Chronic Hepatitis B than Whites (1 out of 10 for Asians, 1 out of 1000 for Whites)

f.) APIs have the highest rates of liver cancer for any racial/ethnic group

g.) The greatest health disparity between Asian Americans and Caucasian Americans is liver cancer

h.) Up to 23,000 women in the United States who give birth each year have chronic Hepatitis B infection, and 70% of them are API.

i.) Liver cancer is the second most common cause of cancer death in Asian men living in the US

j.) Over half of chronically infected Hepatitis B Americans are API; and


WHEREAS, the ramifications of this health care crisis could have dire consequences for the entire City and County of San Francisco as follows:

a.) 6,000 APIs in San Francisco are projected to die from liver cancer and cancer brought on by Hepatitis B

b.) The cost of liver transplants is more than $200,000 per patient

c.) Liver cancer usually develops between ages 35 and 65 when people are maximally productive, with family responsibilities

d.) It could cost San Francisco $700 million in medical and work loss costs for Hepatitis B related conditions; and


WHEREAS, the health care crisis posed by Hepatitis B is largely preventable as follows:

a.) Hepatitis B is a vaccine preventable disease

b.) 70% to 80% of all liver cancers in Asians can be prevented by a Hepatitis B vaccination program

c.) Hepatitis B related Liver Cancer is a vaccine preventable cancer

d.) The Hepatitis B vaccine was declared the first anti-cancer vaccine

e.) Hepatitis B vaccine is safe and has been given to over 500 million people in the world; now therefore


WHEREAS, The California Liver Cancer Prevention Plan calls for all Asians in the state to be tested and vaccinated by the year 2010; and


WHEREAS, the San Francisco Department of Public Health has been working actively to educate, screen and vaccinate San Franciscans to protect residents and the city from Hepatitis B and its related illnesses; and


WHEREAS, the Asian Liver Center at Stanford University and the AsianWeek Foundation are working with a network of San Francisco’s community and healthcare organizations to launch a citywide campaign entitled “SAN FRANCISCO: FREE OF HEPATITIS B – Making San Francisco The First City in America to screen/vaccinate all Asian/Pacific Islanders for Hepatitis B (HBV)”; and


WHEREAS early pioneering efforts to safeguard the Asian American community from Hepatitis B by participating in national studies demonstrating the effectiveness of use of Hepatitis B vaccines in newborns at San Francisco General Hospital and the San Francisco Chinese Hospital helped lead to the national recommendations for universal administration of Hepatitis B vaccine for newborns; and


WHEREAS the Chinese and Asian community for over a half dozen years has been educating providers and residents on the importance of screening for Hepatitis B, including collaborative efforts of the NICOS Chinese Health Coalition, the Asian American Network for Cancer Awareness, Research and Training (AANCART) San Francisco Chinese Council of the Chinese Community Health Care Association, the Jade Ribbon campaign of the Asian Liver Center of Stanford University, and the Chinatown Public Health Center; and


WHEREAS, it is the goal of the City and County of San Francisco to be the first city in America to screen and vaccinate all Asian and Pacific Islander residents for Hepatitis B, setting a model that can be implemented throughout the state of California and the entire nation; now therefore


BE IT RESOLVED that the San Francisco Health Commission commends all these efforts to increase awareness and reduce the consequences of chronic Hepatitis B in the Asian American Pacific Islander community; and


BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the San Francisco Health Commission supports this goal and the SAN FRANCISCO: FREE OF HEPATITIS B campaign.


I hereby certify that the San Francisco Health Commission at its meeting of December 5, 2006 adopted the foregoing resolution.


Rebekah R. Varela

Acting Executive Secretary to the Health Commission

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